Portable brick-drying rack.



PATENTBD MAR. 13,1906. 0. R. KNIGHT & J. TENNESENL ,PORTABLE BRICKDRYING RACK;

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25. 1904.

2 SHEETS-8111115131.

f.No.-.8l4,966. v I PATENTED'JMAR. 13, 1906. 0.1 KNIGHT & JV. TENNBSEN.PORTABLE BRICK DRYING RAGK.

urucnxon; rum) JULY 26. 1904;

- ZSHEETS-SHBET 2,.

1 UNITEDSTATES PATENT orrron.

CHARLES R. KNIGHT AND JACOB TENNESEN, or DENVER, COLORADO.

PORTABLE BRICK-DRYING RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 13, 1906.

Application filed July 25, 1904. Serial No. 217,966.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES R. KNIGHT and JAooB TENNESEN, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the city and county 'of Denver and Stateof Colorado, have invented certain new and useful I Improvements inPortable Brick-Drying Backs and we do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in what we choose to term aportable brickdrying rack, its object being to facilitate the handlingof the brick from the time they are lacedupon the rackuntil they areplaced in t e kiln.

Heretofore, so far as we are aware, the

' green brick or the brick-when first molded are placed upon pallets,after which the pallets are loaded upon a wagon and transferred tostationary drying-racks, and after they are suitably dried they areagain loaded upon a wagon and carried to the kiln.

In our improved construction the bricks when molded are placed directlyu on the drying-rack, which is so constructe that a cart may be rununder it, after which it is drawn to. a suitable distance, after whichthe cart is removed until the bricks are dry. The cart is then again rununder the rack, and the latter is drawn to the kiln in which the bricksare placed. In this way the bricks are only handled oncefrom the timethey are molded until they are placed in the kiln.

Our improved drying-rack is so constructed that it may be tiltedrearwardly to allow the cart to be run under it from in front, afterposition upon the cart, whereby it may be drawn to the desired location.It is so balanced that when tilted rearwardly it will automaticallymaintain the tilted position, and when tilted forwardly or loaded uponthe cart it will also automatically maintain its position thereon.

Having" briefly outlined our improved con- 'struction, as well as thefunction it is intendedtoperform, we will proceed to describe the samein detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation of'our improved "drying-rack, showing theupper deck raised.

Fig. 2 is a top view showing the upper deck lowered and filled-withbrick. Fig. 3 illustrates the rack and cart, the rack being tiltedrearwardly and the cart in the act of entering from the front. Fig. 4shows the rack loaded upon the cart.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let A designate our improved drying-rack considered in its entirety.This rack is provided with supporting-legs A and A there being two ofthese legs on each side. The forward legs A are connected by a piece Awhile the rear legs A are connected by a iece A. The forward legs arehinged to the rick-supporting bars B, as shown at B,

whereby' the legs A are adapted to swing inwardly to the position shownin Fig. 4, to allow the cart to pass beneath the rack from in front. Thelegs A are rigidly secured to the bars B. A part C is connected with thelegs A by strips 0' and C. This art 0 passes upwardly between the rearon s of the bars B and is secured thereto by suitable fastening devices,as nails or screws. This part 0 also rojects above the bars B and 1sprovidecl with an offset 0 to receive the lower end .of a pro Cywhoseupper end engages a cross-piece connecting the two bars 0, which arehinged at C to an upwardly-projecting part 0 connected with the forwardextremities of the bars B; The'bars B may be said to form the lower deckof our improved rack and the bars 0 the up er deck of the rack. Whilethe lower deck is being loaded, the upper deck is supported in theposition shown in Fig. 1 by the rop G which may consist of any suitabledevice. Adjacent the upwardly-proj ecting part C and located immediatelyin the rear of the same lower extremity of the part C occupies aposition above the ground or other surface upon which the rack rests. Itmust also be noted that the legs A are located somewhat rearwardly ofthe center of the rack and also in such a position that when the rack istilted, asshown in Fig. 3, the center of gravity will be in the rear ofa vertical line D, passed through the point where the legs A engage theground or other surface upon which the rack rests. T/Vhen in thisposition, the lower extremity of the part C is made to rest upon theground. This raises the forward part of the rack sufiiciently to allowthe cart E to pass under the lower deck. As the cart is inserted thelegs A swing rearwardly and finally occupy the position shown in Fig. 4.As soon as the cart has been moved rearwardly as far as it will go theuser takes hold of the handles B of the bars B and tilts the rackforwardly, whereby it is loaded upon the cart, as shown in Fig. 4, thecart occupying such a position that the rack will automatically maintainits position thereon, since the platform E of the cart extendsrearwardly of the center of gravity and is also so arranged that whenthe rack is in position thereon the platform is tilted slightlydownwardly from its rear extremity. The rack may then be drawn to thedrying location and left until the bricks are ready to be carried to thekiln.

From the foregoing descriptionthe use and operation of our improveddevice will be readily understood. When the bricks are first formed ormolded, they are placed upon pallets F or strips of sufficient width tosup port the bricks. When one of these pallets is full, it is placedupon the bars B, occupying a transverse position, the bars C having beenraised to the position shown in Fi 1,

and the prop C inserted to hold them in that position until the bars B,forming the lower deck, are filled with pallets.

As soon as this is done the prop C is removed and the upper deck loweredto occupy a position parallel with the lower deck. In this event therear extremities of the bars C rest upon the part C of the structure.The upper deck of the rack is then filled with the brick-holdingpallets. The rack is then tilted to the position shown in Fig. 3=and thecart placed thereunder, as shown in Fig. 4. The rack is then hauled bythe user to the drying location, after which the cart is removed. Whenit is desired to place the bricks in the kilnthat is to say, after theyhave been suitably driedthe rack is again loaded upon the cart in amanner heretofore described and then taken to the kiln, where the bricksare removed for the first time after placing them upon the rack.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. A brick dryingrack composed of a l pallet-supporting deck, forward1y-located hingedlegs, and a pair of rearward ly-located legs, located rearwardly of thecenter of the rack when the deck is in a horizontal position, the rackbeing also provided with a rearwardly located part whose lower extremityis above the ground or other supporting-surface when the deck is in ahorizontal position, the arrangement of the said parts being such thatwhen the rack is tilted rearwardly to cause the said rearwardly-locatedpart to engage the ground or other surface, the center of gravity of therack or the rack and its load is thrown to the rear of a line passedthrough the point where the rear legs of the rack engage thesupporting-surface.

2. The combination of a brick-drying rack composed of apallet-supporting deck, a central support located in the rear of thecenter of the deck when the latter is in a horizontal position, a hingedforward support engaging the supporting-surface when the deck is in ahorizontal position, and a rearwardly-located support which is above thesurface when the forward support engages the latter, the arrangement ofthe parts being such that when the rack is tilted 011 the centralsupport sufliciently to throw the rearward support to engagement withthe supporting-surface, the center of gravity of the rack is thrown tothe rear of a line passed through the point where the central supportengages the supportingsurface, and a truck removably connected with therack, the hinged forward support being in the path of the truck whenplaced. in position whereby the hinged support is raised, the saidsupport being allowed to drop when the truck is removed.

3. The combination of a brick-drying rack consisting of a centralsupport and forward and rearward supports, the forward support beinghinged or pivoted the rearward support being normally above thesupporting-surface and the rack being tiltable on the central support tocause the rearward support to engage the supporting-surface and lift theforward support above the supporting-surface, the central support beinglocated to bring the is in the horizontal position and rearward of thepoint where the central support engages the supporting surface when therack is tilted rearwardly; and a truck removably connected with therack, the hinged forward support being in the path of the truck whenplaced in position, whereby the said support is raised and allowed todrop when the truck is removed.

4. A brick-drying rack composed of a pallet-supporting deck, forward andrearwardly located legs supporting said deck, the forward legs beingpivoted to fold as described,

center of gravity forward of it when the rack an upwardly-projectingforwardly-loceted In testimony whereof we affix our'signapart connectedwith the lower deck, and an tnresin presence of two witnesses.

upper deck pivotally connected with said up- CHARLES R. KNIGHT,wardly-projecting part, the rack being pro- JACOB TENNESEN. vided'wlth arearwardly-located part engag- Vitnesses: v ing the rear extremity ofthe upper deck DENA NELSON,

' when the lattei' is in'the lower positlon. LEONORE OBRIEN.

